Coalition for Abolition: Strategic Alliances and Antiprison Activism in California’S Central Valley Ethan Buckner
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Vassar College Digital Window @ Vassar Senior Capstone Projects 2013 Coalition for Abolition: Strategic Alliances and Antiprison Activism in California’s Central Valley Ethan Buckner Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalwindow.vassar.edu/senior_capstone Recommended Citation Buckner, Ethan, "Coalition for Abolition: Strategic Alliances and Antiprison Activism in California’s Central Valley" (2013). Senior Capstone Projects. 247. http://digitalwindow.vassar.edu/senior_capstone/247 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Window @ Vassar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of Digital Window @ Vassar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Coalition for Abolition: Strategic Alliances and Antiprison Activism in California’s Central Valley Ethan Buckner Independent Program May 2013 Senior Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree in the Independent Program. ___________________________________________ Advisor, Carlos Alamo _________________________________________ Advisor, Lawrence Mamiya Abstract There are currently over 3 million people locked behind bars in United States prisons, jails, and detention centers. In this era of mass incarceration, prison abolitionists envision a world entirely without prisons. The politics of abolition are complex, and the vision for abolition is long-term. Activists seeking to operationalize abolitionist politics must navigate pragmatic strategic questions of issue framing, leadership, campaign planning, and coalition building. This thesis addresses issues of abolitionist strategy by examining the work of the California Prison Moratorium Project, a small yet highly successful antiprison organization based in Fresno, at the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. Drawing from a short series of interviews with CPMP staff, advisory board members, and allies, along with news clippings, organizational publications, and scholarly research, I analyze the effectiveness of CPMP’s campaigns. Ultimately, I argue that CPMP’s broad-based coalition building strategies are a powerful example of effective abolitionist organizing. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction: Birth of a Mass Movement? ...................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Incarceration Nation ........................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 2: Roots of Resistance ......................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 3: Prison Expansion and Resistance in the Central Valley ................................... 39 Chapter 4: The California Prison Moratorium Projects ......................................................... 46 Chapter 5: Building Coalitions, Building A Movement ........................................................... 60 Conclusion: Moving Forward ............................................................................................................. 74 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 79 Acknowledgements I am grateful for the continued loving support of my parents, my sisters Heather and Rachel, and my brother Matthew. Many thanks to Carlos Alamo for your patient and thoughtful guidance throughout my research and writing process. And to Larry Mamiya, for your mentorship and leadership these past four years. Your commitment to collective liberation is embodied in your life’s work and inspires me as a student and activist. I also extend gratitude to my ever-supportive formal and informal advisors, Tim Koechlin, Bill Hoynes, and Susan Blickstein. Finally, a special thanks to Johanna Fernandez, for helping me believe that radical transformation is possible. 4 Introduction Birth of a Mass Movement? On a warm spring evening in April 2012, dozens of hopeful organizers crowded into the softly lit Skylight room in the CUNY Graduate Center. Gathered together were occupiers, students, community organizers, educators, faith leaders, and formerly incarcerated individuals, as well as former members of SNCC1, the Black Panthers, and the Weather Underground, among others. Though incredibly diverse in age, race, gender, sexual identity, and affiliation, the group was linked by a call for a Liberation Summer. Stirred by the creative momentum of Occupy Wall Street, invigorated by the murder of Trayvon Martin, and inspired by movements for Black and Brown liberation in America's past, organizers of Liberation Summer sought to build "a united front that will challenge the carceral state in all of its dimensions" (Liberation Summer 2012). As the 7pm scheduled start time neared, the stirring crowd welcomed the arrival of professor, writer, and activist Angela Y. Davis, who opened the evening by highlighting the connection between Occupy Wall Street, capitalism, and prison abolition. "This is a very important historical juncture," she said with conviction, "The Occupy Wall Street Movement helped change the terrain of political discourse, made it possible for us to talk about capitalism in a different way" (Liberation Summer 2012). To Davis, Liberation Summer presented "an opportunity to address difficult 1 The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was a youth-run organization that played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement in the American South in the 1960s. 5 issues... to raise questions about abolition." Throughout the rest of the gathering, attendees divided into small groups to offer feedback on the Liberation Summer vision and develop a common strategy for moving forward. Organizers posed the question: What would coordinated resistance to mass incarceration look like? How would a massive coalition of activists - this idea of a united front - function? Ideas brewed and bounced around the room, ranging from mass public education campaigns to locally situated Cop Watch initiatives to a national convergence of activists to launch a SNCC-like organization. Visioning and planning continued for hours, until the building manager announced that he needed to close down for the night. Before ending, the group attempted to reach consensus on next steps. But with all the excitement and energy in the space, the group was unable to decide on a common strategy. After the April 27th meeting, Liberation Summer fizzled. The core organizing team, flooded with diverse feedback from the meeting, was unable to pull together a cohesive strategy and harness the momentum of the coalition meeting. Throughout the rest of the spring, organizers splintered to work on a variety of local campaigns. The core team, comprised mostly of young organizers without strong roots in New York’s racial justice movement, was uncommitted to any particular direction. The team dispersed. By the time June rolled around, the Liberation Summer coalition was no longer meeting. As a core organizer for the Liberation Summer initiative, I was constantly preoccupied with the delicate task of coalition building. Developing Liberation 6 Summer while attending to the goals, agendas, and needs of all the individuals, affinity groups, and organizations involved was akin to navigating a half-constructed sailboat through choppy waters. Concrete questions around strategy and next steps were interwoven with deeper questions about our politics: what does abolition really mean? Which aspects of the system do we challenge and engage through our work? Which groups belong in our 'united front'? How do we choose a single target for action while drawing the connection to the entire system of mass incarceration? All of these inquiries spurred enriching and lively discussion in our meetings and on our list serv. Yet partly as a result of lack of focus and consensus around these questions and partly due to lack of capacity, trust, and commitment among young coalition organizers, our effort collapsed. The unfulfilled potential of Liberation Summer begets the core question I explore in this thesis: what makes effective abolition organizing? As a social justice activist, I am compelled to respond to the consistent calls of abolitionist scholars and organizers for a mass movement, akin in size and scope to the civil rights movement of the 1960s that challenges and ultimately dismantles the prison industrial complex. Yet, despite focused resistance to mass incarceration by a multitude of activists since the 1980s, abolitionists have yet to ignite such a broad- based social movement. Why not? This thesis engages critical practical questions for activists and scholars concerned with mass incarceration. What are effective organizing strategies for implementing an abolitionist framework? I argue that a core ingredient for a mass 7 movement against the prison industrial complex is cross-issue coalition building. Because the politics of abolition demands a systemic critique of the prison industrial complex, stakeholders concerned with a wide variety of issues can work together to fight prisons. Rather than inhibit collective action, diverse perspectives and interests among allies can lead to creative strategies, resilient coalitions, and transformative growth for everyone involved. To explore